Donate Your Time Volunteer Fair

2016-09-23

The Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island’s , Connect2 :Friendly visiting for Holocaust survivors program had the privilege of bringing in the Jewish New Year this year, with five other Jewish organizations in collaboration for a good cause, at the “Donate Your Time” volunteer event in NYC on the evening of September 20,2016.

The event came out of both the idea and sponsorship of Mr. David Ash, a dedicated Connect2 volunteer. He expressed to me, that in his own experiences of finding Connect2 as an outlet to volunteer his time, he realized that the process of finding a venue you want to give your time to is not so easy to come by. Soon afterwards, he decided that before the Jewish New Year, he wanted to host an event for people who want to give back, but not so much in dollars and cents, but more so in their time, namely volunteering. This was his concept behind the “donate your time” volunteer event.

Connect2 was honored to have a small part in helping to organize the event, by collaborating the involvement of the other organizations involved. However, we are grateful to Mr. Ash for his vision to help for the greater good, as well as his generosity financially. Included in the other organizations were: Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty; Sephardic Bikur Cholim; The Jewish Board ; Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island; lifevest inside; Chabad of the Upper East Side.

The event was held at the Great Jones Studio in lower Manhattan, where the guests enjoyed wine, cocktails, and a sushi bar with full kosher dietary laws observed. The crowd was addressed by Orly Wahba, Founder of “Life Vest Inside” & TED Talk participant, who spoke to the benefits of the volunteer experience. Most importantly, the potential volunteers had the opportunity to meet and converse with agency representatives to learn more about the volunteer opportunities that are available for them to pursue if they choose to do so.

The “Donate Your Time” event was advertised as, “A special FREE event to foster volunteerism, and help YOU donate your time to a valuable cause.”

At a time of year in the Jewish calendar when we all try our best to count our blessings and “pay it forward” to our fellow man, this event was truly meaningful to all the participants, organizations, and recipient clients involved!

Please click here to see a gallery of photos from the 1stDonate Your Time event.

A project of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island and Shorefront Jewish Community Council.
Funded in part by: Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Leader Family Fund